-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- One of the most perverse results of the IRS 's lame , overzealous -- and possibly criminal -- behavior in looking into the tax-exempt applications of assorted advocacy groups is this : They 're a lot safer from scrutiny today than they were yesterday .

After this IRS mess , who in government is going to be in a rush to take on -- or try to regulate -- the groups they should actually be looking at as political operations , overt or covert ? Um , not many .

Here 's the real deal : It 's an open secret in Washington that some of these groups , which spent huge amounts of money during presidential campaigns , are politically aligned . Whatever their `` labels , '' as the IRS might call them , they have been tax-exempt because they claim to be dealing with issues rather than elections . That is , policy , not political candidates . But in the heat of a general election , when policy is politics , how can anyone tell the difference ?

Priorities USA is a Democratic brand ; Karl Rove 's Crossroads GPS is n't likely to do anything other than help the GOP . To gain their tax-exempt status , they 're supposed to promote the `` social welfare . '' What , exactly , does that mean ?

It 's a complicated question that has become infinitely more complex in the wake of the Supreme Court 's Citizens United decision , which allowed corporations to start donating directly to activist groups . Suddenly , the potential of getting some dibs on their considerable money grew larger . The groups designated as 501 -LRB- c -RRB- -LRB- 4 -RRB- became the perfect pots to hold the dough , and they swelled , literally and figuratively . And the IRS did n't do much about it .

It might have been a better idea , rather than embarking on what seems like a potentially criminal political fishing expedition , to actually take a look at the huge amounts of money being spent out in the open during the last campaign .

Why was n't the IRS `` scrutinizing the big fish , '' asks Paul Ryan , the chief lawyer for the Campaign Legal Center , a watchdog group that has pushed -LRB- unsuccessfully -RRB- for the IRS to investigate these groups . `` The IRS needs to be focused on the big fish and not on the little Mom and Pop tea party groups , and certainly not based on their political ideology . ''

Ah , but that 's exactly what happened -- and , as a result , these groups that , according to some estimates , collectively spent over $ 250 million on candidates during the last election are still tax-exempt . Can it be that the IRS investigators were so silly , clueless and unaware of their appropriate role ? Alas , yes .

But the legal eagles reading and interpreting the IRS laws are obviously a lot smarter . In its description of the 501 -LRB- c -RRB- -LRB- 4 -RRB- category , the IRS lays it out pretty plainly . `` Examples '' of organizations under this statute that would be considered tax-exempt , it says , are `` civic associations and volunteer fire companies . '' Hmmm . Not exactly political in any way , shape or form . What 's more , the IRS also makes it clear that , in order to qualify , the burden is to prove that `` your organization is organized exclusively -LRB- italics mine -RRB- to promote social welfare . ''

But according to Ryan , the gremlins -LRB- i.e. the lawyers -RRB- have managed to figure out a way to get around this . The new `` perceived line , '' he explains , is that all these groups need to do is spend less than half of their money on politics . He calls it the `` tax lawyer community interpretation . '' Huh ? Is that how we 're running the government ?

So if these groups spend less than half of their money on politically related activism , the dough they collect from big corporations and donors can be used for campaign activities , all without disclosure of where the money came from .

This has not escaped the notice of Congress , especially Democrats who have been outgunned by Republican-leaning groups .

`` We urge you to protect legitimate section 501 -LRB- c -RRB- -LRB- 4 -RRB- entities by preventing non-conforming organizations that are focused on federal election activities from abusing the tax code , '' seven Democratic U.S. senators wrote then-IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman last year .

What makes sense is for the IRS to make sure that its laws are followed . Citizens can at least expect that their government might know the difference between quashing political dissent and legitimate inquiry . Fishing expeditions on political-sounding names is just stupid , if not venal .

And now , the obvious -- and perverse -- consequence of the IRS bungling : It has just made the world safer for tax lawyers . Your taxpayer dollars at work .

CNN 's Kevin Bohn contributed to this article .

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Gloria Borger : After IRS scandal , it 's open season for political nonprofits

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She says the agency was wrong to target conservative groups

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Still , the IRS is needed to keep political groups from posing as nonprofits , she says

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Borger : IRS focused on small fry , left big organizations free to spend on politics